Cotopaxi and Quito

This weekend we decided to get out of Sangolqui. On saturday we went on a day trip to Cotopaxi, the highest of Ecuador´s active volcanoes (according to them the highest in the world - 5897m). We parked at about 4500m, and then walked up to the tongue of one of the glaciers (at 5000m). 500 meters ascent doesn´t seem like much, but at that altitude it´s pretty tough going, and it feels like your heart is throbbing in your head. The fact that we went from 2300m in Sang. to 5000m in 1 day was pushing it a bit, and we both had sore heads afterwards. The views more than made up for this though, it was unbelievable! The road that we travelled on from Quito is the Pan-American highway, and is also known as the Avenue of Volcanoes as you are always surrounded them. From 5000m on Cotopaxi (above the clouds), you have a view of the volcanoes that is truly breathtaking.

Today we caught a local bus (which cost $1 for both of us) up to Quito, which took half an hour. We walked around the Old Town, visiting some churches and taking in the festive atmosphere, with dancing, a marathon, a band, street theatre, and all sorts. We were quite happy to see some other tourists, but decided that we´re very happy with where we are based.